Austrians!

[jdp]

So here is my latest entry for my Austrian army, two bases of skirmishing Grenz. Grenz or Grenzers depending where you look were irregular troops who secured the border with the Ottoman Empire. They were very effective as light infantry but reforms tried to make them into additional line units which just didn't work out. These troops were not paid but had looting rights which made for an awkward campeign if you didn't take the fight to the enemies ...





As always C&C is welcome!

[jdp]

So here is the second offering with my grenadier unit. I have them fully basecoated and then gave them a good coat of my Austrian wash. The wash is two parts Devlan Mud and one part Badab Black, it comes out a good dark brown to give a nice contrast with the white. In a pinch if I based these guys fully they could be fielded but I am looking for a little more on the tabletop. I'll be highlighting them over the next week or so and giving you some more progress pics then. Here is a front and back shot of the guys.






C&C is always welcome but remember this is WIP and we are only halfway home!

[jdp]

Just a quick happy post folks! I got the first half of my order from the warstore today of Perry Grenz for my Austrians. 3 of the 7 packs ordered came in but it's a good start. They are a good blend size wise with my Victrix plastics, I am very happy with them.
I just put the flag on my Grenadiers so I'll get pictures of them up tomorrow after they are dullcoated but I was so excited about the Grenz I just had to post!

[jdp]

So here is my first unit of grenadiers complete save for a few touch ups on the bases which I am seeing now.
I very happy with the way they turned out, Victrix puts out a nice plastic soldier that fills the ranks nicely.
So here they are without further ado.







Here is a quick comparison shot with the plastic grenadiers and my new metal Perry Grenz on the right. Pretty close, the Perry's look a little smaller but not by much considering the grenadiers were the biggest guys in the regiment and their bearskins were a little bigger than shakos I think they are about right. Certainly good for the same army if not in the same unit.



So there you go folks, a finished unit and a preview of things to come.
C&C is always welcome!

[kublai]

They look great !!

Did you use the flag from the victrix box ?

[Meraklis]

great work!
Can wait to see those battalions based and flocked!

instead of using your mix of GW inks why dont you use the army painter dip? You dont have to dip them per se. You could brush it on

[sigur]

Oooh, the shot of the Grenadiers is simply stunning. Really cool stuff.

I also like the Grenzer a whole lot. They add a bit of colour to the army. Also very interesting bits on the background of those formations. The whole Grenzer concept, if my memory serves me right, was always pretty much about "irregularity". They were persuaded (by lower to no taxes I believe) to settle in the more tormoilous areas of the balkans bordering the Ottoman Empire but in return also were more or less a standing army to defend their lands against Ottoman attacks. I didn't know that there were enlisted units of Grenzers in the army though (but then, my knowledge of the Nepoleonic era is embarassingly lacking in general).

Anyways, very nice to see new things in here. Now where's the cavalry?

[jdp]

@Kublai: Thanks! I did indeed use the flag from the box, it is just a place holder when I get a little deeper into the project I will be ordering flags for my units from the flag dude who makes some truly stunning stuff, the folds in his flags are incredible!

@Meraklis: Thanks, I am anxious to see the army en masse as well, I am trying to hit this army more than I have been next unit is 90% but I am also building more stuff at the same time so maybe next week on the next unit? W/ regard to the army painter dip I tried it and didn't have great luck. I used it on my first couple of units and didn't care for my results. It's odd because I have seen people get great results out of it and I used similar prducts, minwax, in the past on my 15s and loved it. I will probably revisit the sip in the future, but the GW washes are working for me now.

@Sigur: Thanks! I am pretty happy how the grenadiers turned out. The Grenzers are fun units, lots of color and variation for the army. Your take on the Grenzers is pretty darn good I wouldn't worry about a lack of knowledge there! Fear not cavalry is in the queue, probably Uhlans first as I have three units of them but I might jump right into the Hussars, it is hard to resist the definitive light cavalry that was copied by every other nation in Europe!

[Caiphas Cain]

I like them, but I think I'd get sick of painting that much white.

About the army painter dip; The first time I used it, the model looked great. The next couple looked much worse for some reason. After testing a couple more random models it looked better. It seems really inconsistent for me.

[sigur]

Good stuff, I'm very much looking forward to seeing those Uhlans. About the Grenzers - it's all just brittle remains of history lectures I took.

No idea why I forgot to mention it but I watched the film Waterloo a few weeks ago. As a film, it's pretty much so-so but as a spectacle it's just insanely immense. I mean I only have a passing interest in the Napoleonics era (but trying so hard to get into it) but really everybody who ever had anything to do with wargaming should watch this film.

[jdp]

@Ciaphus Caine; Thanks, I thought the white was going to be a bit painfull but it hasn't been any worse than other basic uniform colors and the facing colors keep things fun. W/ regard to the dip, I had good luck with Minwax polyshade on my 15's seven or eight years ago when the first dipping craze hit. I bought the AP stuff thinking it would be a godsend based on my friends results but my results on my first two units of Austrians was quite a let down. I'll give the AP solution another swing if for no other reason than that I have a good chunk of change wrapped up in that can!

@ Sigur; I remember when I as a kid they used to play Waterloo on Sunday afternoons every once in a while, it was cool seeing the battle scenes at the time but don't know how it would feel today. I'd like to see a good modern Napoleonic flick produced, judging by the mass battle scenes that were in the Lord of the Rings, I think they could pull off the broad shots quite nicely at his point and then zoom in on the main units struggle with little problems.
I am looking forward to finishing my first unit of cavalry as well, but I got distracted by a unit of Jaegers that was 50% done and also started in on the Perry Grenzers that I received the other week. I finished basecoating their coats, facings and the yellow of their hats and leggings. I also spent some time rebasing command stands for my army onto three inch discs for basic commanders and my CIC, Archduke Charles, or Karl, will be on an oval GW flight stand style base with a couple of advisors and grenadier guards.

[colhodg]

As always with naps the combined look of the unit is stunning - really nice crisp effect given that you've used washes, nerd question - how thick are the bases you used - they have a very solid look i'm after. Basing also very nice btw

[jdp]

@colhodg: I am with you on the unit thing, an individual figure from this era is nice but a unit really sings and when you see all eight units of the division together on the tabletop the time spent on 280 guys is totaly worth it. The bases are all 3mm thick, some are lasercut plywood and some are hardboard. Durability wise they are about the same on the tabletop but the hardboard are a little cheaper although most of these bases I bought at conventions with special pricing so that colors my view of their relative values. I think I am going to add a little woodland scenics scrub to my bases just to jazz them up a little more, extra work on texture usually is rewarded on bases so we'll see if it works here or not.

I just got the new Perry wurst carriage artillery pieces today. I am off to assemble them now!

[colhodg]

hmm makes me wish i'd looked a bit harder as most of the bases you can order on ebay seem to be 2mm lasercut mdf, i'll definitely try to source some 3mm ones for other projects.

There's quite a lot of light spill on the photos so i'm guessing they look a little brighter in the flesh so to speak - if i was to make any small suggestion some of the faces look a bit dark and might want a final highlight - i tend to just water down bestial brown with white for flesh. (yours look better than mine tho!)

How many units have you managed to complete?!

[sigur]

Sure, sure, a modern Napoleon or Waterloo film would look alright but the battle scenes from Waterloo are awe-inspiring. With a new film you'd know it's just CG and that's even less awe-inspiring than Waterloo in 6mm lead figures.

Never heard of the Wurst ("sausage") artillery. Evoked pretty amusing images in my head. Looking at the perry models I can understand why they called it that tough.


Anyhow, I'm looking very much forward to seeing that base of Archduke Charles and staff! Should come out splendid with yourbasing.

[bayard-88]

Very nice unit! I'll paint my Austrians when I'll finish Poles, and I think I'll use the same technique- great effect!

[Corvussanctus]

Wow, these Austrians look good! One of the Napoleonic armies that get too little spot-light.

As a nativ german-speaker just one thing about the irregulars: The correct name would be in singular and plural "Grenzer" no 's' at the end. One Grenzer, many Grenzer. It only makes sense in german.

[jdp]

Ok, so it's time to reflect on the old year and look forward to what a new year will bring to us in terms of gaming.
I failed miserably on my vows to paint the lion's share of this army in 2012. this is what did happen;
I assembled 96 plastic Austrian grenadiers from Victrix and finished painting 24, one units worth, and am half through the painting the next unit of 24;
I assembled 108 plastic Austrian fusileers and painted one stand of skirmishers;
I based 36 metal Grenz from perry miniatures and have the unit basecoated I finished painting two stands of skirmishers to go with these;
I assembled 12 metal Hussars from Front Rank;
I muddled along with 12 metal Uhlans to a basecoated status;
I assembled 2 brigade commands and a supreme headquarters stand;
and painted a bunch of 15mm stuff.
A ton of stuff got built, and is ready to go and I am ready to try to get this army back on track for 2013.
Good luck to all of you with your projects this year, lets finish some armies!

[Caiphas Cain]

Don't worry, I'll hang around to give you a kick in the right direction if you need it!

[kublai]

Great that you have not given up on them ! Looking forward to see some updates